Proceedings of 4th RIT Post Graduates Conference (RIT PG Con-18)
NOVATEUR PUBLICATIONS
JournalNX- A Multidisciplinary Peer Reviewed Journal (ISSN No:2581-4230)
IMPLEMENTATION OF TWO-CAVITY METHOD FOR MEASURING THE
FLOW RESISTIVITY OF ACOUSTIC MATERIAL
Clarence F. Lobo, M. B. Mandale
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Rajarambapu Institute of Technology
Sakharale, India
Abstract—Acoustic materials are characterized according
to their macroscopic and microscopic properties. The sound
absorption co-efficient and the air-flow resistivity are of
paramount importance among those used to describe the
acoustic behaviour of materials. There are several methods
developed for measuring the air-flow resistivity of acoustic
material. The aim of this paper is to study the existing static
flow resistivity measurement methods and then accordingly
implement a suitable indirect method based on standard
impedance tube. The flow resistivity measurements are
carried out for additive manufactured ABS (Acrylonitrile
butadiene styrene) sample, foam and glass fibre using the
two-cavity method. There are certain similarities observed
in their results. Further analysis of the raw impedance data
is carried out and conclusions are drawn pertaining to the
performance and feasibility of the implemented method.
Keywords—flow resistivity; two-cavity method
I. INTRODUCTION
Flow resistivity (specific airflow resistance per unit
thickness) is one of the most important non-acoustic
parameter which is needed to calculate the intrinsic
properties, e.g. the complex wave number and the
characteristic impedance of a sound absorbing
homogenous material. The specific airflow resistance
determines the sound-absorptive and sound-transmitting
properties of an acoustic material and its measurement is
useful for specification purposes [1]. The air-flow
resistivity is defined as the ratio of the pressure drop
across a specimen to the linear velocity of airflow through
a unit thickness of specimen.
Methods for measuring the flow resistivity can be
categorized as the direct or steady airflow method [1-2],
the alternating airflow method [2-3], the comparative
method [4] and the acoustic method [5-8]. The direct
airflow method measures the pressure drop across the test
specimen and the volume velocity through the test
specimen for a steady air flow and then calculates the ratio
to obtain the flow resistance. In contrast to the two
parameters measured in case of direct airflow methods,
the alternating airflow method requires only the
measurement of pressure drop across the test specimen
for a known volume velocity. The pressure drop in case of
ISO 9053 alternating method is measured at a low
frequency of 2 Hz. Dragonetti et al. [3] proposed an
alternating method based on the ratio of sound pressures
measured inside two cavities coupled through a
conventional loudspeaker. The imaginary part of the sound
pressure ratio is useful in the evaluation of air-flow
resistance. This method eliminates the need of special
instrumentation and calibration required in case of ASTM
C522 and ISO 9053 standards. Also, pressure
measurements can be performed at frequencies greater
than 2 Hz. Stinson and Daigle [4] developed an electronic
365 | P a g e
April, 13th, 2018
Deepak C. Akiwate
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology
Hyderabad, India
system for the measurement of flow resistance. The setup
basically involves two resistive elements placed in series,
one with calibrated resistance and the other with unknown
resistance. Since the volumetric flow of air across the
elements is constant, the ratio of the pressure drops across
each element is the same as the ratio of the values of flow
resistance.
The acoustic methods normally carried out in
impedance tubes can be broadly classified as indirect and
inverse methods. While the inverse method uses a surface
acoustic property, e.g. sound absorption coefficient to
operate, the indirect method relies on the evaluation of
two intrinsic acoustic properties of the material. The
indirect acoustic methods can further be classified as two-
microphone [5-7] or three-microphone [8] methods.
Ingard and Dear [5] proposed that at low frequencies the
ratio of the sound pressures measured at both sides of the
test specimen yielded the normalized flow resistance. The
pressure measurements are carried out at the front surface
of the test specimen and close to the rigid termination.
Woodcock et al. [6] adopted the two-cavity [10] and two-
thickness [11] methods for measuring the propagation
constant and the characteristic impedance of fibrous
materials and then calculated the effective flow resistivity
using the inverse equation of the Delany and Bazley
empirical formulae [12].
Tao et al. [7] proposed a new acoustic method based on
the impedance transfer function to determine the static
airflow resistivity with a standard impedance tube that
complies with ISO 10534.2. In this method, the static flow
resistivity is expressed as a function of the intrinsic
properties of the test specimen and the resistivity values
are acceptable in the frequency range from 63 Hz up to a
few hundred Hz. Doutres et al. [8] presented a three-
microphone impedance tube method to evaluate the non-
acoustic properties of sound absorbing materials. This
straightforward method only requires a direct
measurement of the open porosity of the material and an
impedance tube setup. Berardi and Ramakrishnan [9]
investigated the difference between two-microphone and
three-microphone impedance tube method employed to
assess the flow resistivity and sound absorption coefficient
of materials in both compressed as well as uncompressed
state. In this paper, an indirect acoustic method proposed
by Tao et al. [7] is implemented for measuring the static
flow resistivity of additive manufactured ABS sample, foam
and glass fibre. The feasibility and performance of the
method are discussed.
II. THEORY
Flow resistivity can basically be classified as dynamic
flow resistivity and static flow resistivity. The dynamic
flow resistivity is frequency dependent and varies with it.
But when the frequency tends to zero, flow resistivity
 Proceedings of 4th RIT Post Graduates Conference (RIT PG Con-18)
NOVATEUR PUBLICATIONS
JournalNX- A Multidisciplinary Peer Reviewed Journal (ISSN No:2581-4230)
April, 13th, 2018
varies little with frequency and is usually called as “static III. EXPERIMENTS
flow resistivity” [13]. The static flow resistivity is of more Initially, the two cavity method was implemented and
importance as it plays a critical role in the calculation of the impedance measurements were carried out for ABS
many acoustic intrinsic properties. It can also be defined as sample and foam. The two-cavity method [7] relies on
the real part of the low frequency limit of the dynamic measuring the surface impedances at both sides of the
resistivity [14]. The dynamic resistivity is expressed as a specimen when backed by rigid termination and back
function of the material’s intrinsic properties, i.e. the cavity of depth ‘L’. The impedances are measured in a large
propagation constant (complex wave number) and impedance tube using transfer function method. The
characteristic impedance. Thus the static flow resistivity frequency range considered is 63-500 Hz by setting the
can be calculated as, microphones at wide spacing.
σ = Re [lim (ω→0) (jkpYp)]

where kp and Yp are the complex wave number and the

characteristic impedance of acoustic material respectively.
Woodcock et al. [6] adopted the two-cavity [10] method
for measuring the propagation constant and characteristic
impedance of fibrous materials. In this method the test
specimen is backed by infinite and finite impedance by
placing the specimen in contact with rigid termination and
(a)
then employing a quarter wavelength back cavity
respectively. But for every frequency of interest, employing
a different back cavity would prove to be tedious and time
consuming. Tao et al. [7] improvised on the same and
implemented the two-cavity method by choosing any
arbitrary back cavity for 63-500 Hz frequency range and
evaluated the intrinsic properties as follows,

kp = ±(1 ⁄ 2l)tan-1([Z22 ⁄ Z11 - (Z12[Z22+Z11]) ⁄ (Z11)2]0.5)

(b)

Yp = jZ11tan(2kpl)

where Z11 and Z12 are respectively the specific acoustic

impedance on the front surface of the specimen when the
specimen is backed by rigid termination and any non-zero
back cavity. On the other hand, Z22 is the acoustic
impedance at the back surface of the test specimen when
backed by the non-zero back cavity and is obtained as,
(c)
Z22 = -jρccot(kL)
Fig. 2. Impedance tube samples of 100 mm diameter (a) Additive
where ρ is the air density, c is the speed of sound, L is the manufactured ABS, 80 mm thick (b) Foam, 25 mm thick (c) Glass Fibre, 24
mm thick
non-zero back cavity and k is the wave number defined as
k =2πf/c, where f is the frequency. The specific acoustic With the help of additive manufacturing technology, a
impedances Z11 and Z12 on the front surface of the 100 mm diameter and 80 mm thick ABS sample of
specimen can be measured using the ISO 10534.2 standard hexagonal periodicity was prepared. The dynamic flow
impedance tube. A diagram of standard impedance tube resistivity as a function of frequency plot for 80 mm thick
design according to ISO 10534.2 is shown in Fig. 1. ABS sample backed by arbitrarily chosen 35 mm back
cavity is depicted in Fig. 3.

Fig. 1. A diagram of the impedance tube designed for ISO 10534.2

implementation [7]

A loudspeaker at one end generates the required

random signal over a frequency range and the transfer
function is measured utilizing the microphone switching
procedure. The reflection coefficient and hence impedance Fig. 3. Flow resistivity as a function of Frequency for 80 mm thick ABS
can be evaluated from the transfer function conveniently subjected to 35 mm back cavity depth
by a programmable digital spectral analyzer.
366 | P a g e
 Proceedings of 4th RIT Post Graduates Conference (RIT PG Con-18)
NOVATEUR PUBLICATIONS
JournalNX- A Multidisciplinary Peer Reviewed Journal (ISSN No:2581-4230)
April, 13th, 2018
The foam sample is extracted from a sheet which is 25 It can be seen that the graphs for the three glass fibre
mm thick. The diameter of the foam sample is maintained samples are in good agreement, thus indicating a good
100 mm as per the impedance tube compliance. The experimental repeatability. The same can be proved by
dynamic flow resistivity as a function of frequency plot for measuring the static flow resistivity in the 150-200 Hz
25 mm thick foam sample backed by arbitrarily chosen 50 range.
mm back cavity is depicted in Fig. 4.
TABLE II. STATIC FLOW RESISTIVITY FOR GLASS FIBRE SAMPLES
Static Flow Resistivity (Ns/m4) in 150-200 Hz frequency range
Std.
Glass Fibre Mean % Deviation
Deviation
Sample 1 26431 1440.10 5.40
Sample 2 24542 1408.30 5.75
Sample 3 26112 1200.40 4.50

The flow resistivity values for the three samples are

Fig. 4. Flow resistivity as a function of Frequency for 25 mm thick foam
subjected to 50 mm back cavity depth
The static flow resistivity should be constant with
respect to frequency. From the Fig. 3-4 it can be seen, that
the flow resistivity tends to be constant in the frequency
range from 150-200 Hz. The static flow resistivity value in
this range for both ABS sample and foam is listed in Table
1. It is clear from Table 1 that flow resistivity values vary
little in the 150-200 Hz frequency range. Also, the plots for
both ABS sample and foam depict similar trend.
found to be in good agreement. The maximum variation in
static flow resistivity between samples is around ±8%. The
graphs for the three materials tested, i.e. ABS sample, foam
and glass fibre depict certain similarities in their trend,
which are as follows – peak is observed around 350 Hz,
rapid fluctuations below 100 Hz and flow resistivity tends
to be constant in the 150-200 Hz region. In order to
investigate the reasons for these similarities, further tests
are conducted. The impedance values of the rigid
termination are measured in the absence of the sample.
Further the impedance values are plotted with respect to
frequency for with and without sample conditions.

TABLE I. STATIC FLOW RESISTIVITY FOR ABS SAMPLE AND FOAM

Static Flow Resistivity (Ns/m4) in 150-200 Hz frequency range

Std.
Acoustic Material Mean % Deviation
Deviation
ABS sample 7940 187 2.35
Foam 24442 772 3.16

In order to check the repeatability of the experiment,

three glass fibre samples of 100 mm diameter were (a)
extracted from the same sheet. The thickness ranged
around 24±1 mm. The measurements were performed
similarly as done in the case of foam and results obtained
were as follows,

(b)
Fig. 6. (a) Real part and (b) Imaginary part of measured impedance values
for 24 mm thick Glass Fibre sample in the 63-500 Hz frequency range

The imaginary part of impedance shifts from minimum

to a maximum at around 432 Hz for the without sample
condition. This frequency is referred to as the natural
Fig. 5. Flow resistivity as a function of Frequency for 24 mm thick Glass
Fibre subjected to 50 mm back cavity depth
frequency and the corresponding imaginary part of

367 | P a g e
 Proceedings of 4th RIT Post Graduates Conference (RIT PG Con-18)
JournalNX- A Multidisciplinary Peer Reviewed Journal (ISSN No:2581-4230)
impedance is zero. With the presence of the sample and air
gap, the length of the standing wave tube increases, and
the natural frequency shifts. Thus from Fig. 6, it could be
seen that with the presence of glass fibre sample and air
gap, the peak associated with the natural frequency of the
tube shifts towards left at around 350-400 Hz. Since the
flow resistivity value is evaluated from surface impedance,
the same peak is carried forward in flow resistivity plots
depicted in Fig. 3-5. Further the results depicted in Fig. 6
are reconsidered excluding the peak data.
(a)
(b)
Fig. 7. (a) Real part and (b) Imaginary part of measured impedance values
for 24 mm thick Glass Fibre sample in the 63-300 Hz frequency range
It is observed from Fig. 7 that there are rapid
fluctuations in the real and imaginary part of impedance
below 100 Hz, that too in the absence of the sample. This
means, that the experimental setup itself drives these
fluctuations. One of the equipment responsible for this
could be the microphones. Generally, microphones do not
produce stable readings at very low frequencies and hence
the effect is seen in impedance measurements and thus
flow resistivity. Even with the presence of the sample and
air gap, these fluctuations are seen. So, the impedance data
in the frequency range of 150-200 Hz is considered for
flow resistivity estimation.
IV. CONCLUSION
The indirect acoustic method proposed by Tao was
implemented for additive manufactured ABS sample, foam
and glass fibre. The flow resistivity as a function of
frequency plots for ABS sample, foam and glass fibre depict
NOVATEUR PUBLICATIONS
April, 13th, 2018
similar trends. There are rapid fluctuations below 100 Hz
due to the inability of microphones to perform accurate
measurements at low frequencies. A peak is observed in
flow resistivity chart which is associated with the natural
frequency of the standing wave tube. With the presence of
the sample and air gap the peak shifts towards lower
frequency. The flow resistivity tends to be constant in the
frequency range of 150-200 Hz with maximum std.
deviation of 5% and hence could be termed as static in this
range. The repeatability of experiments was 8% which was
acceptable.
Acknowledgment
Authors would like to express a deep sense of gratitude
to Dr. B. Venkatesham and Prof. M. B. Mandale for their
help, support and guidance towards this work. They also
express special thanks to the Acoustic Lab of IIT
Hyderabad for providing the experimental setup,
infrastructure, and other facilities which were required in
order to fulfill this work.
REFERENCES
[1] ASTM C522-03, Standard Test Method for Airflow Resistance of
Acoustical Materials (ASTM, 2009).
[2] ISO 9053, Acoustics – Materials for acoustical applications –
Determination of airflow resistance (ISO, 1991).
[3] R. Dragonetti, C. Ianniello, R.A. Romano, “Measurement of the
resistivity of porous materials with an alternating air-flow method.”
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Vol. 129(2) (2011): pp.
753-764.
[4] Stinson MR, Daigle GA, “Electronic system for the measurement of
flow resistance.” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Vol. 83
(1988): pp. 2422–8.
[5] K.U. Ingard, T.A. Dear, “Measurement of acoustic flow resistance.”
Journal of Sound and Vibration Vol. 103 (4) (1985): pp. 567-572.
[6] R. Woodcock, M. Hodgson, “Acoustic methods for determining the
effective flow resistivity of fibrous materials.” Journal of Sound and
Vibration Vol. 153(1) (1992): pp. 186-191.
[7] Jiancheng Tao, Ping Wang, Xiaojun Qiu, Jie Pan, “Static flow
resistivity measurements based on the ISO 10534.2 standard
impedance tube.” Building and Environment Vol. 94 (2) (2015): pp.
853-858.
[8] O. Doutres, Y. Salissou, N. Atalla, R. Panneton, “Evaluation of the
acoustic and non-acoustic properties of sound absorbing materials
using a three microphone impedance tube.” Applied Acoustics Vol.
71(6) (2010): pp. 506-509.
[9] U. Berardi, R. Ramakrishnan, “Characterization of porous materials
in compressed and uncompressed conditions using a three
microphones method.” Acoustical Society of America Vol. 28 (2016).
[10] S.L. Yaniv, “Impedance tube measurement of propagation constant
and characteristic impedance of porous materials.” Journal of the
Acoustical Society of America Vol. 54 (1973): pp. 1138-1142.
[11] C.D. Smith, T.L. Parott, “Comparison of three methods for measuring
acoustic properties of bulk materials.” Journal of the Acoustical
Society of America Vol. 74 (1983): pp. 1577-1582.
[12] M.E. Delany, E.N. Bazley, “Acoustical properties of fibrous absorbent
materials.” Applied Acoustics Vol. 3 (1971): pp. 105-116.
[13] M. Ren, F. Jacobsen, “A method of measuring the dynamic flow
resistance and reactance of porous materials.” Applied Acoustics Vol.
39 (1993): pp. 256-276.
[14] Panneton R, Olny X, “Acoustical determination of the parameters
governing viscous dissipation in porous media.” Journal of the
Acoustical Society of America Vol. 119(4) (2006): pp. 2027-40.
368 | P a g e